Scarlet Dress
by Angela Jane
Summary: Sequel to Scarlet Pasts. "She met his eyes and sighed. 'I have an idea about how to catch Red John…'"..."'But you're not going to like it.'"
1. The Plan

**A/N: "Angela, you promised us an epilogue over a month ago!" I know, and I'm sorry. I didn't know exactly where I was going with it, but now I do.**

**And I am going with ShellGrad's advice, and doing a sequel instead. So, please forgive me… *Begs***

**Disclaimer: I don't own the Mentalist. However, I dare the writers to say they own the idea for this upcoming episode. (Ex boyfriend Craig, Ex fiancé Greg? Yeah, that was _totally_ not a copy.) Oh, well. I have no complaints. :-)**

Jane should have been happy. He knew that. He was sitting on _her_ couch, watching TV with the woman he loved, who loved him as well. He had just eaten a wonderful dinner that he cooked, and they had, earlier that day, closed a case.

A cold case, at that. It was always satisfying to bring closure to a family, especially so if they've been waiting months, even years, for it.

So, all in all, he knew it was a good day.

But he felt sad.

And he knew why.

It was because of Red John.

Because of Red John, he couldn't lean over and kiss Teresa, no matter how cute she looked critiquing the logic of the crime show.

Because of Red John, he couldn't put a diamond on her finger.

Because of Red John, he and Teresa were still forced into loneliness.

He groaned and shifted, forcing himself to pay attention to the TV again.

As the detective spun around the room, excitingly realizing what any _good _detective would have known a good half hour before, he felt _her _snuggle against his side.

He smiled involuntarily.

She had no idea…

"I just wish…" He hadn't realized he was speaking until she turned her head to look at him.

"Wish what?"

He hesitated, before admitting, "I just wish Red John wasn't…wasn't a problem. I wish…"

"I know. But one day, we'll catch him."

"What if we don't?" He didn't mean for the amount of anger in his voice, but it didn't seem to faze her.

"We will."

"If he decides to stop killing, we've got no way to catch him. And if we don't catch him…" He looked at her sadly.

She chewed her lip.

It got his attention.

That was her nervous habit…She was uncertain about something.

"What is it?"

She met his eyes and sighed. "I have an idea about how to catch Red John…"

"Oh?"

"Yeah…But you're not going to like it."

"Nonsense. If it helps us get to Red John, I'm willing."

Lisbon closed her eyes for a moment. Finally, she took a deep breath. "You're in?"

He raised an eyebrow. "It would probably be helpful, my dear, if I knew the plan first"

She sighed. Then, she leaned up and whispered in his ear.

"No. No, absolutely not."

"Why not? It's sure to work."

"Sure to draw him out, yes, but it's too dangerous."

"Not if we tell the team."

He stared at her, incredulous. "We can't."

"Why not, Jane? They won't report it, and otherwise, I probably die."

"Not if I don't let you do it in the first place."

"But I want to. I want this to be over."

"Well, so do I, but-"

"No buts, Jane. If you want this to be over, if you want Red John caught, this is the only way."

He took a deep breath, thinking. She was right, of course-There was no other way bait sure to draw him out-But did he really want to risk her?

Her eyes met his, begging.

And that was how he found himself saying "Ok."

**A/N: "Angela, you didn't tell us what the plan is!" I know. That's what we call a…Ah…Oh, yes. Cliffhanger.**

"**But Angela, we want to know!"**

**Really? There's a magical button right down there-I'm sure you see it. If you press it, I will magically know that you're curious.**

**If you click it, I'll be happy! :-)**

**Seriously, thanks for reading, and God Bless.**


	2. Kidnapped

**A/N: So, this is the part where I explain. I'm not late because my computer broke, I'm not late because I didn't have any ideas, and I'm not late because I got busy.**

**Well, I did kind of get busy… Being me.**

**I am used to hiding, and being behind the scenes. Not talking to people. But I still wanted to share my writing. That's where Fan Fiction came in. **

**It was just another form of hiding. It was behind a screen this time, not just hiding away completely, but it was still hiding. **

**I've had many things happen to me, many people encouraging me, but I've finally accepted that this isn't me. **

**Not that I'm going to quit writing Fan Fiction. I'd like to finish the projects I started, at least. **

**After that…Who knows?**

**I do know that I'd like to get some of my own writing published. I know you know what I mean by that.**

**My own stories.**

**My own characters.**

**My own standards.**

**So, after this very long monologue, I guess I'd better get started with the story. **

**By the way, when I started this story, I thought I knew where I was going with it. Then I discovered that what I wanted to do wouldn't work, but I could still use the first chapter as the start for a story. Just a slightly different one. The only real reason this is important is because the title no longer applies. I know how confusing it can be when a writer changes the title of a story he or she has already started, so I'm leaving it, but I just wanted to let all of you know.**

**I am so grateful for all of you reviewers, who encouraged me during what was, even though you didn't know it, one of the hardest times I've been through so far.**

**Much Love and God Bless, Angela.**

The plan was, in theory, simple enough.

And, to their credit, the team didn't yell at, hit, or even glare at Jane when they found out Red John was alive.

They simply nodded and asked what the plan was.

Getting them to agree was a little harder.

"We can't, man. It's illegal!" Was Rigsby's complaint.

"Not to mention wrong!" Grace had added.

"It's too dangerous." Cho had pointed out.

But they were all loyal to Lisbon, and in the end, agreed..

Lisbon pulled into Roslind Harker's driveway and took a quick glance around.

FBI cars were parked beside the house-She could just barely see the front of one of them-and there were the outlines of three agents in the window. She assumed there were at least two others out of sight.

The wind blew Lisbon's hair back as she came up to the door.

Her heart pounded. _Maybe this wasn't my best idea…Oh, well. Too late to back out now._

After only one knock, a familiar face opened the door. "Susan." Lisbon said politely.

Agent Darcy grinned. "Agent Lisbon, what a surprise. Can I help you?"

Lisbon nodded. "Yeah, I need to speak to Roslind alone, please." She tried to make her voice at convincing as possible, as orders didn't work so well with Darcy.

Even before the other woman spoke, Lisbon knew it wouldn't be that easy. Not that she had expected it to be, but it never hurt to try.

"Why is that? I thought you were past the stage of not trusting me."

Lisbon thought for a second, before pulling her most convincing face. "It's not you I don't trust. In fact, I'm trusting you to get the other agents out of the room…"

"Why's that?" Darcy's face held an expression as sharp as her voice. "I hand-picked the people in that room. They're my people and I trust them."

Lisbon nodded, and forced a slightly embarrassed look onto her face. "I know, but Jane doesn't." A look of understanding dawned on Darcy's face as Lisbon continued, "There's something I need to talk to Roslind about, and Jane wants me to be alone with her when I do. And since he's just now getting to where he trusts me…" Her voice trailed off.

Darcy nodded, understanding. She met Lisbon's eyes seriously for a moment. "I'm not sure that man is worth the effort you're giving him." Lisbon held her gaze. After a moment, Darcy shrugged. "You have ten minutes."

"Thank you."

She took a deep breath as Darcy walked in. She overheard the woman ordering her team to leave.

Despite it having been her idea, Lisbon didn't really like leaving Darcy out of the loop.

She took one more deep breath, before stepping inside.  
Roslind was settled on her couch.

"Agent Lisbon."

In a quiet voice, she said "Hey, Roslind. Listen, I need you to listen to me closely and do exactly as I say. It's for your own safety, okay?"

Gale Bertram leaned back in his chair. It was a slow day, a day with no cases.

As good as that was, he had to admit, he missed the cameras.

Maybe his friend would do something interesting today…

He chuckled at the thought.

His phone rang, startling him. "Director Bertram, how can I help you?"

"May I speak to Agent Lisbon?" The voice on the other end was so tense, it took him a moment to place it.

"Agent Darcy! Pleasure to hear from you. I'm sorry, Agent Lisbon is on vacation. Her whole team took a few vacation days, actually… Something about a team-building exercise."

"Some exercise." She muttered.

He raised his eye-brows. "Is there something wrong, Agent?"

"Just that your Agent Lisbon has kidnapped a key witness in the Red John murders!"

**A/N: So, what are Lisbon and the team up to? Guesses welcome! And I know there was practically no Jisbon interaction. I promise, there's more to come. **

**So, has anyone seen the promo for 5x01? I'm officially excited! Love, Angela.**

**God Bless. **


	3. It's hard to do this

**EDIT: I am guessing that most of you who have read my stories have at least a hunch that I have retired from Fan Fiction. You are correct. I quit watching the Mentalist, and quitting Fan Fiction was the next-very difficult- step. I thought for a long time that watching TM was okay, despite the language, sex, and drug use, as long as I didn't write the same way, or let that be reflected in my life.**

**Actually, I take that back; I have known for a long time that I need to stop watching the Mentalist, but I found it impossible to quit. I thought I couldn't do it.**

**I was obsessed. **

**Thinking about the Mentalist 24/7.**

**Planning my life around being able to watch the Mentalist.**

**I skipped too many after-church dinners to watch The Mentalist.**

**I rarely wrote about anything non-Mentalist related.**

**And I was starting to bend my standerds to allow my favorite characters the life they wanted.**

**I needed to quit.**

**The actual story behind what finally pushed me to quit is kind of long, so I won't bore you with it.**

**But after what happened, the actual act of quitting wasn't so hard. **

**But doing this-admitting that I wouldn't be finishing any of my stories... That was the hard part. For nearly two months I put it off. **

**But I owe it to all of you-the ones who kept me sane during a nearly impossible time of my life- to tell you the truth. **

**I hate not finishing projects. But these will remain unfinished.**

**I'm sorry.**

**I will be leaving my stories up, because I remember it driving me crazy when someone quit and taking their stoies down. "Hey! I was going to read that!" I would gripe to the computer, (Not that anyone could hear me.) and I could never understand them doing that.**

**All of you mean so much to me, and I will never forget all of the things you've done for me.**

**Good bye.**

**I love you all, and God Bless. **


End file.
